Happiness and Hope. Pain and Pills.

Stay focused.

One of my friends who fights chronic pain asked me how I cope with pain and illness on a daily basis, so I thought I should share in hope that it will help somebody else out.
I’ve built up my own techniques with dealing chronic illness over the years. When I’m at my very worse ( lifeless crying mess with pain being a crazy 9-10) I always close my eyes , just breathe and visualise my self on stage performing a lyrical dance with raw emotion and just dancing my heart out. It’s a massive distraction, I could do it for hours and hours, even though it takes more energy out of me and I become a little more weaker and more brain fogged I’ve found that it’s really helped me cope and to not focus or dwell on the pain. Also, I visualise myself snorkelling in the underground river in Mexico- it keeps me calm and relaxed when things get scary ( like when paramedics thought I was having a stroke) months of paralysis or when I think bad thoughts about being so severe for ever. Some people might find this bizarre, but I’ve found it to be the best strategy coping with constant agony. When the pain is centre stage It helps me to stay determined and focused on my dreams, recovery and goals keeping the pain out of the spotlight for a little while.

If you fight a chronic illness maybe you could try these techniques, but using something personal, close to you and what you really love? This could be you visualising yourself doing a hobbie or even walking down the street soaking up the surroundings from the comfort of your own home.

When things like pain gets really bad we’ve got to tell ourselves that nothing bad is going to happen. ( before I was diagnosed I was scared, confused and thought I was dying- and I wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I am now) And although it’s not ‘normal’ it’s become our normal. We’ve got no choice but to accept it and fight it in order to move on ( accepting it doesn’t mean you’re being negative and going to be like this for the rest of your life- it’s just the part if the process you need to do, other wise you’ll be running in circles for a long time pretending it’s not real when it’s the most realist part of your life.)